Design Implications of Large-Scale Shake-Table Test on Four-Story Reinforced Concrete Building

A full-scale, four-story, reinforced concrete building designed in accordance with the current Japanese seismic design code was tested under multi-directional shaking on the E-Defense shake table. A two-bay moment frame system was adopted in the longer plan direction and a pair of multi-story walls was incorporated in the exterior frames in the shorter plan direction. Minor adjustments to the designs were made to bring the final structure closer to U.S. practice and thereby benefit a broader audience. The resulting details of the test building reflected most current U.S. seismic design provisions. The structure remained stable throughout the series of severe shaking tests, even though lateral story drift ratios exceeded 0.04. The structure did, however, sustain severe damage in the walls and beam-column joints. Beams and columns showed limited damage and maintained core integrity throughout the series of tests. Implications of test results for the seismic design provisions of ACI 318-11 are discussed.